


The Show Must Go On

by Goggles_and_Books



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/F, Innistrad, Ixalan, Ravnica, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 16:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17584052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goggles_and_Books/pseuds/Goggles_and_Books
Summary: A Rakdos performer travels to Ixalan, only to be trapped with seemingly no way to leave. An Innistrad necromancer soon finds herself the fancy of an unstable pyromancer. Two planeswalkers, a smattering of pirates, things set ablaze, and potential disregard to the plot.Might add a violence warning later, however this is going to go more in the direction on romance and fluff rather than smut. Description is likely to be improved later. Tags will also be improved later, sorry.





	1. Chapter 1

For a split second, Taylin was a child again as a web of silver wrapped memories was yanked and pulled. Rain, the deep ache left after an argument, wandering along busy streets, and a juggler attracting a crowd. This one in particular was bound in silver weaving. It began to fade.

No… No, please anything…  
She wanted to leave. She had to leave, it was a mistake. An accident. Now she risked becoming nobody again. Darkness loomed in her thoughts, a seeping gaping, hollow emptiness. Flames rushed in her fingertips, and Ravnica fell away.  
\------------------------------------ 

Her feet were wet, and when she fell to her knees her hands hit wet sand. It was hot here, and the sun pounded on her back as she cleared the fog from her memories. Everything seemed to be in order, but there was no way to be sure.

“That… is the last time I piss off Dimir….”

She said this to no one in particular. But she had heard stories of those who meddled with the affairs of the Dimir, much less vexed them with blight paper for several weeks. She was lucky to be able to speak. 

Taylin’s eyes opened to sunlight and colors. A confusing contrast to the damp stone alley way she had been in previously. She crawled towards the water, chains leaving trails in the sand. It was so clear, so clean. It didn’t smell like sewage, it smelled so pure. Up and down the beach was just sand and birds. She hated it.

Her skin crawled, where was she? Why wasn’t anybody there? She didn’t know of any place without a sign of civilization. No talking, no footsteps, no music. No vendors beside cobblestone streets, no wojeks and enforcers giving her dirty looks as she patrolled.

As she focused on her home, of the endless cities. The smells of smoke, blood, and hot metal lingered like she was on the fringes of a performance. It felt like she was dissolving into buzzing embers. She was ablaze, she felt like she was in front of a crowd again. In the silence after a show, waiting for the cacophonous roar to prove she was complete.

Just as she stepped forward, she was flung backwards. Left to once again, kneel gasping by the the ocean. She had to leave. She had to find someone, anyone. Even if she had to set them on fire, she needed a to hear words, a voice, anything. Hell, even the droning of the Azorius would be better than this.

She looked behind her at the the forest, everything about it was unfamiliar. No way was she going in there, and she didn’t trust herself to swim when she couldn’t see another shore. So she had two directions. There wasn’t anywhere that didn’t have people somewhere. Even the rubblebelt had tribes. Thus, she just had to follow the coast until she found a road or a building or even a tent. It was impossible for anywhere to be empty. So she walked, trying not think. Whatever happened, she had traveled. She knew this instinctually. Wherever she had traveled, she was stuck there. There was no going home, and right now she seemed to be the only one here.  
If she was alone, she-  
No, I won’t think about that.

So she didn’t. She put one foot in front of the other, biting back the thoughts that crept in.When she tripped and twisted an ankle (again) she took off her stiletto heeled boots and flung them into the ocean. When she caught some colorful feathered creature stalking from the trees, she hurled her headdress at it. If the gleaming metal projectile hadn’t been a deterrent, the flames certainly were.

When the sun set, she paused. 

Even the sky was empty, just stars. No moon, no clouds, no screaming goblins and self righteous angels. She dropped to her knees with a clanking of chains. It didn’t make sense. She wanted to go home. She wanted food, and water, and a bed to sleep in, and a crowd to entertain and she didn’t want to be stuck on some infinite stretch of sand with lights on the water.

Lights?

She looked closer, it was like looking down from the docks watching ships come in, but she saw no source. In the dark the coast seemed to cut away and she stood as realization began to spark. Running, eyes blazing and hair coming loose from its braids she rounded the bend to find ships docked at a small town. Still some ways away, the lights of a ship gliding into port shone and sparkled on the water. She forced herself to slow down, and not run. 

Wherever she was, she could make a show. All she needed were people and her tools, and while most of her tools were back in her apartment she had her body and her flames. The music that had crept down the beach was unfamiliar, yet the beat was simple and the sounds were chaotic. 

By the time she was walking across the docks she had her head high, blonde tangles reaching past her waist. The chains had been converted, while she had no juggling balls all she need was some heavy objects and a length of chain and she had part of a show that had ensnared the attentions of humans and demons alike (though she had garnered somewhat of a reputation as a heartbreaker).

The music was coming from a makeshift tavern in the sand, full of lights and drinking and loud people practically begging for something interesting. Eyes followed her, tracing the shape of her body, male and female were looking her up and down as she slinked around the room. Getting a feel for the crowd. No bloody deaths, no bodies burned and posed, some of the finer points of her art would most certainly not be appreciated. They could be left out though, probably better not to make enemies before she knew who she was facing. 

Her heart fluttered and she felt like was preparing for her first show again, homemade props jangling in her hands. The scent of alcohol and sweat and a crowd. Taylin swept into a clear spot on the trampled sand, caught the rhythm of the song (swift, simple, yet catchy. Easy to remember), and danced. Slowly at first, and then slightly faster. Her hair, eyes, and fingertips trailing smoke and harmless embers. When the crowds backed away, eyes glimmering with intrigue, she released a length of chain in each hand, the dark weight at the end catching fire. They spun, the flames leaving trails in the air.  
Yet in the chaos, Taylin remembered she had to show restraint. It was obvious these crowds did not seek a little pain with their pleasure judging by nervous looks when the flames danced a hair too close.  
As the song drew close to its dramatic ending, she swung the chains around until she was blazing pillar of flames, enhancing the props with the fire that resided in her body. Until the flames died with the music and she dropped into a deep bow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm horribly sorry for my poor description of dancing, as for her tools look up fire poi. Essentially flaming balls on chains. This is the first time in a loooong while to stretch the fic writing muscles, so bear with me. College is hard. Please feel free to rip me a new one for any issues, and as always please. Provide some encouragement. 
> 
> Thanky


	2. What they didn't take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse as to what was not lost to the Dmir

Taylin was running down the streets of Ravnica, voice raw from screaming at someone who refused to be mad back. Tears still fresh from a one-sided argument. Her mother never yelled, never hit, never seemed mad. No matter what she destroyed, no matter what she burned, no matter what she threatened. Just a serene patience, absent of frustration and smugness.

She ducked down into an alleyway, sliding against the rough wall glad to be rid of the neat alignment and organization of her home and instead in the rambling city. People bustled past on their errands and travels as contraptions whizzed overhead, occasionally being closely tailed (by officers or observers it was hard to tell). A performer in red and black juggled knives across the street, her various tricks were drawing a small but cautious crowd. 

Human, and young for someone alone on the street she moved confidently and surely, though Taylin could have sworn the girl nicked her fingers a couple of times. She carried on despite these seemingly unnoticed incidences, eventually ending the act in a deep bow. 

The knives were set down, and two objects on chains were untied from around her waist. Dipping the ends into a container of… something, she sparked a flint and the objects ignited. Taylin edged forwards out the shadows, as the girl began to spin the chains. As they picked up speed to an imagined beat, the flames trailed in the air provoking the audience to step back. They wrapped around her in complex patterns. She showed no fear as they passed by her face, her skin, and even when one singed her hair at one point. 

It was more beautiful than any Selesnyan work of organized nature Taylin had ever seen. Invoking the same feelings in her chest when she set fire to paper and dry leaves to watch the flames dance. The same feeling she had when she first stormed off during another futile remedial meditation and realized that no one would bother to stop her. The same feeling as when she’d sneak out in the middle of the night and practice summoning the flames that seemed to dwell just under her skin.

Soon Taylin was in the front of the small crowd until someone was singed and woman in blue and white broke up the crowd and warned the performer. The crowd was gone, and Taylin still stood staring as the human girl packed up.

“Don’t tell me, I’m an affront to nature and need to leave? Don’t worry, I am” The words were bitter, and her tone was harsh. Taylin winced slightly, glancing down at her robes.

“Uh, hey. I just noticed that you cut your hands previously… I have something that’ll help it from getting infected.”

“No thanks, I don’t like Selesnyan magic. I heard that’s how they brainwash people.”

Taylin stood shocked for a second and laughed. That was a new one, utterly untrue of course but a reasonable assumption.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about Selesnyan magic, I’m not what you could call gifted at the art of healing. No, I have a salve and some bandages I keep on hand.” Taylin reached into a pocket and pulled out the bottle and bandages. “No magic, just mashed up plants.”

The performer looked at her for a second before very slowly showing Taylin her hands. There were some mild burns and most of the cuts weren’t to bad, but there was one on her left palm that would be an issue. She worked slow, noting the scars crisscrossing her arms and hands.

“Hey, um…” Taylin faltered before she could force out the words. Earning raised eyebrows from the girl.

“You’re part of the Rakdos… Guild?”

“Cult, yeah.”

“You wouldn't need a healer on hand, would you?”

“If we need a healer we’ll find one.”

“Yeah, but… If something goes wrong, I may not have any healing or growth magic but I can keep someone alive. I can set bones, cauterize wounds, stuff like that.”

“If you can’t heal, what do you do in Selesnya.” The girl inspected the bandages and sniffed them before lowering her hands, seemingly satisfied.

Taylin thought about it for a second “Meditate. Sing. Meditate. Set something on fire. Meditate.” Taylin stared at her own hands for a second. “I… I don’t think I belong there. They all talk about the bigger picture and the chorus, but when I try to encourage something to grow I burn it to a crisp. If I’m part of a bigger picture, then I’m in the wrong painting.”

“So what, you think Rakdos is the right picture?”

“I don’t know, but I can say one more remedial meditation session and I’m setting the entire province ablaze. We just sit there thinking about what we did wrong, finding peace. They don’t even bother to stop you if you just leave the room they told you to stay in. They just assign you more remedial meditation”

The girl chuckled. “Sounds awful, I’d go crazy there. Will anyone be looking for you?” 

“Yeah, maybe. But I’m not going back. Trust me, they won’t force me. Most of them will be glad I’m gone.”

“Well, what’s your name, elf?”

“Half-elf, actually. And it’s Taylin. Yours?”  
“Auren.” She said, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “So, any experience with-”

A Boros Wojek across the street was making a beeline towards the two. A burly minotaur staring straight at Auren.

“Know him?” Taylin interrupted, pointing at the Wojek.

“Oh fuck.” This wasn’t shouted, just a matter of fact tone as if this was a regular occurrence. Judging by the stories of the infamous cult, it probably was.

Auren grabbed Taylin’s hand and took off like a shot. Somehow, Taylin didn’t mind. The minotaur yelled something, and Auren was ducking and weaving and sliding through alleyways like a pro, occasionally slipping through damp sewer tunnels until the noise, haze, and smell of food and smoke of a Rakdos province enveloped them. 

And despite being chased, despite the unfamiliar smells and sounds, and despite the fear the unknown she had been taught, Taylin felt sure of every step she took.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taylin sat up blearily. Someone had moved her from the sand to a pile of blankets on the dock. It was a small storage area, for the tavern perhaps? Wherever she was, it had a roof. As she processed this her dream crashed over her like the waves battering the beach, carrying pieces of her into an unknown.

As tears tried to claw their way up her throat, Taylin was glad she remembered. That whatever the silver threads may have threatened, they didn’t take that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this took longer than expected but I think it did well. I'm already working on the next chapter, so that shouldn't take as long. Please leave any feedback that comes to mind. Whether it's questions, critique, or giving it a kudos this please let me know. I appreciate you.


	3. Kess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing the second main character to this work, Kess.

Kess looked out over the iridescent cliffs. Already, nature was reclaiming the edges and vines were encroaching on the alien substance. It was really too hot on Zendikar for her coat, but she had decided to wear it anyway. With no goal in mind, she just knew it was time to leave this plane.

She didn’t know where to go, just that wherever she went, it didn’t have to be permanent. If she didn’t like it, she could just move on to the next plane. The concept in and of itself was simultaneously sobering and exhilarating. With a final deep breath of the strange, thin air of the corrupted landscape Kess stepped into the blind eternities.

The journey was different this time, and she began to panic. She had been so worried about going anywhere but Innistrad she hadn't stopped to actually choose one of the many trails that lingered from this plane to the multiverse. Kess tried to go back, but something was drawing her in through the chaos of the blind eternities. It pulled at her and drew her forward like a fish on a line. She braced herself, for fire or ice or any number of fates. A darker thought nudged the edges of Kess’s thoughts. What if it’s her? What if she is back?

Whatever was drawing her in, she was ready to flee first and shoot later. Despite the quick planning and mental preparation, she wasn't ready for the drop. A short one that landed her in the ocean, leaving her coughing and struggling against the weight of her equipment. Years of swimming in ponds and ocean shallows kicked in and Kess relaxed onto her back, moving continuously to stay afloat. She had spotted shore and now all she had to do was stay alive long enough to reach it. The back of her neck crawled, Kess dismissed it. The thought of deep oceans had bothered her since she was a child hearing tales of ships consumed by monsters.

Whether she realized it or not, an unpleasant energy clung to the long-stored coat and leached into the water. The cold lifelessness that radiated out deterring the few oceanic creatures that came to investigate. Leading her to make her way to the island’s shore without interference from the curious aquatic life.

Soaked to the bone and fighting against every piece of waterlogged equipment, Kess came ashore and collapsed in the sand. It took several minutes for her to gather the energy to sit up and strip off the worn leather, leaving her in a plain set of clothes she had acquired some time ago on Zendikar.

The wind bent the boughs of the trees behind her, and the sun beat down on her now exposed arms. It was hot here, and the wind would help in drying her clothes.

Good Kess thought to herself, the faster things dry the faster I can leave. 

The sky was nearly cloudless and the sun was blinding, so at least it wasn’t Innistrad. It was loud in the same way Zendikar was, with the waves and the wind in the trees. Unknown and unseen creatures warbled, roared, and croaked in the trees.

Kess looked around investigating the pale ocean sand and unfamiliar shells. Behind her was a jungle both similar and utterly different from where she had spent her time after the disaster on Innistrad. Eyes watched her from the trees, and she could feel the well of black mana that pooled in the ground as things died and rotted to be remade into something else. Unlike Zendikar, there was no chalky blight and multicolored metal. But there was something strange and far from welcoming in this plane, it didn’t want her. So she strapped her knife to her side, and readied her crossbow. Whatever came out of the woods or out of the sea would have to catch a crossbow bolt before it caught her.

Before long, Kess began to consider retreating to the dense jungle behind her. Her pale skin had never taken to the sun well, and despite the wind and rough water no clouds drifted overhead.

By midday most of her equipment had dried, and she was well and truly fed up with the jungle. Freshwater wasn’t hard to find, but on one side was an unrelenting sun and on the other side was a variety of biting insects that seemed utterly thrilled to greet her. The wind chapped her lips and whipped her damp hair into a tangle. Even getting her coat back was a hassle as the large and unpleasant looking lizard seemed to have claimed it as his territory.

So Kess cleared her mind and focused on the descriptions she had heard from a woman passing through. She focused on the drawing of a place called Kaladesh. Stepping into the blind eternities she could just see it, glittering and gold and bright. In a rush she was slammed back into the sand, the air was forced from her lungs as if someone had dropped a load of rocks on her chest.

She tried it again, focusing on the dense canopy and soaring cliffs of Zendikar.

She tried again, focusing on her home on Innistrad. Focusing on the dark forests and clouded skies. Dread built in her chest on the thought of returning, but she pushed it aside. It would be autumn. Harvest festivals, torchlight, and dead leaves waited for her if she could just leave.

It served no use. Each time Kess was left breathless and disoriented. A symbol blazed she was left in the sand, shaking a little after the third time. After the freedom granted to her on Zendikar the settling realization that she was trapped settled over her like ice.

Alone on the beach, Kess stared numbly at the boat approaching. She hadn’t even seen them before she tried planeswalking away, but to be fair she had more pressing issues with a large insect. They couldn’t have seen her, but it slowed its pace regardless, and figures began to row a much smaller craft away from the vessel. Two rowers, and a third standing in the front. So maybe they had seen her failed escape. Maybe they had caused this? She knew she was grasping at straws at this point, but there was always the lingering suspicion that there were no coincidences. 

The person standing in the front waved his arms, shouting something that was lost across the water. Kess remained where she was, watching blankly. Had they watched her attempt at planeswalking? Did they even know what happened?

It came ashore and she forced herself up and got ready to flee, a crossbow bolt primed and ready to take out the leader of the three. One body would be all she’d need.

“No need for that, I just want a civilized conversation.” The man spoke smoothly, calmly for someone with a ranged weapon aimed at their face.

Kess didn’t move, her face a well-practiced blank mask. 

“Can you talk?” He was closer now, close enough to see her nod a quick affirmative.

“Alright then, I’m guessing you tried to get out of here?”

Nod.

“Annnnd I’m also going to assume that it didn’t work?”

Nod.

“I watched you arrive. I can give you a lift to an island with a bit more eh…. Personality if you’d like.”

Kess eyed his clothes, fancy but sea-worn. Well-armed, and so was his crew. She didn't know this place, but she was willing to bet they did. If it came to a fight, she'd have to rely on brute force rather than trickery.

He continued talking, his accent was much different from her own. “Innistrad right? It’s been a while since I’ve seen that certain fashion statement around here. I’m from Dominaria myself. My name is Heret, care to share yours?”   
The name Dominaria seemed familiar, but distant enough she couldn’t place the memory

“Kess” she lowered her crossbow a few inches. The group had no weapons drawn, but it never served to trust in the unknown. 

“OK then Kess, I see we’re connecting here. You and I. So about that offer? Free ride, food, and drink. I have a soft spot for the people who get trapped here. It’s like a trap, you stumble in and you don’t leave. You adapt or die. It’s a shame really, but it’s not all bad here.”

Kess noticed that the crew members who had rowed over were obviously confused by the conversation but in a way that said this was not the first time they had heard it. She lowered her crossbow pulling the bolt from the mechanism. If they were going to attack her on the boat, a silver knife would give her a much better chance in the small space. 

It wasn’t lost on her that Heret’s hand finally strayed from the hilt of his sword.

“I sure hope you don’t get seasick. It’s a short trip but it goes on forever if you’re hacking up your insides over the railing."

"I'm sure it is... “ Something didn’t add up I watched you arrive. Kess had been a panicking whirl of instinct and shock from the drop, but she had seen no ship.

She paused, just before accepting his hand up.   
“If you saw me arrive, tell me. How did I get here?”

“Well, I imagine that’s something only you would really-”

“No bullshit." Kess cut Heret off ." If you saw me arrive, tell me exactly what you saw and how you saw it without a ship”

The man, Heret stared at her for a second before replying in an even tone, “Six-foot drop and a decent swim to shore. Dumped your coat and dropped like someone hit you over the head with a club.”

“How did you see this?”

Heret’s eyes blanked. Something brushed Kess’s coat sleeve and she spun around, reaching for her knife. A hazy outline stood behind her, coming into view the more she focused. Like one of the chapel spirits, an intangible form of the man stood behind her before disappearing.

“Luck, really” Said Heret from behind her.

Kess turned back around. Whether it was an illusion, or an ability to rip his own soul from his body, it was an interesting ability.

"I try and get an idea of what's happening on our route home. One of the crew members said they sensed a surge of necromantic energy and I went to check it out."

It checked out, and it was completely possible that she had used her necromancy to search bodies before getting to the surface. Still, the man only seemed to give away information when he had no other option so there was no telling what else he could be hiding. So Kess was aware that she would have to stay on her toes around him, especially with how hard that specter was to see.

Despite her suspicion, Kess was well aware that she was out of her depth here. This place was alien, almost as much so as Zendikar was when she first arrived. “Adapt or Die”, well she had adapted well enough to the dense jungle and blighted wasteland of Zendikar.   
Even as they pushed off from shore, Kess could still feel the crushing weight of the fact that she was trapped. All that freedom was now just out of reach, she could brush her fingers against it but knew it was no longer in her grasp.

Heret noticed the slump in Kess’s shoulders and the faraway look in her eyes.

“So, how many planes have you seen? Anything lovely?”

Kess was silent for a bit before replying,

“Just two, Innistrad and Zendikar.”

“Ah, Innistrad and Zendikar, both are pants-shittingly terrifying and breathtakingly beautiful. Nothing better than standing on a cliff in Nephalia, watching the storms roll in over the ocean. Then again, the sunrises here can be a close second.”

Kess stayed quiet, staring over the edge of the boat as it approached the large ship. Heret began chattering with the crew members instead, discussing the route home and the politics of a place called Luneau. She got a distinct feeling that he was giving her some space, “I have a soft spot for the people who get trapped here”. He said he was from Dominaria, another plane by the sound of it. Made sense, but she had to wonder how long this man had been here? How many planeswalkers have been trapped here? 

How many of them had died here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this took... a while. I've been super busy between work and college, but I certainly hope that this one is worth a read.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm horribly sorry for my poor description of dancing, as for her tools look up fire poi. Essentially flaming balls on chains. This is the first time in a loooong while to stretch the fic writing muscles, so bear with me. College is hard. Please feel free to rip me a new one for any issues, and as always please. Provide some encouragement. 
> 
> Thanky


End file.
